TOKYO – A Japanese court ruled for the first time that the country’s constitution gives same-sex couples the right to enjoy the legal benefits of marriage, a groundbreaking decision in a region of the world that generally bans same-sex marriage .
The court in the northern city of Sapporo ruled in a case brought by gay couples seeking a marriage certificate. The three-judge panel said the government’s refusal to grant them a license violated the Japanese constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment under the law. However, the court said the plaintiffs were not entitled to compensation.
Other district courts in Japan are hearing similar cases and Wednesday’s ruling is open to appeal, meaning that the case will not be resolved for the time being.
The three-judge panel said that while the Japanese parliament had wide discretion in enacting laws on marriage, “it has exceeded the limits of discretion” through its discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples. It said the current law was based on the now discredited notions of homosexuality as a disease.
The court left the possibility open for Parliament to create a separate system of marriage or union for same-sex couples. It said that if such a system provided same-sex couples with legal protections, as the current marriage system does for heterosexual couples, it could go through the constitution.